CONSTRUCTION SCIENCE AND MATERIALS

Construction Science and Materials



Construction Science and Materials

Introduction

The assignment is based on the construction of a large scale, modern block of flats being constructed by the coast in Poole (Dorset UK) in Shrinkable Clay ground conditions standing on a cliff-top facing the sea in the conservation area of postcode BH 13. There will be five floor levels, with one being underground car parking in a communal garage. All apartments will need to have big windows and the penthouses being almost all glass walls facing the sea.

Keeping in mind the given specifications of the flats, this paper offers 3 options for the construction:

Option 1

For the structure & foundations of the flats, one option is to use Coupled Wall Structure. It consists of two or more shear walls in the same plane, or almost the same plane, connected at the floor levels by beam or stiff slabs. The effect of the shear-resistant connecting members is to cause the sets of wall to behave in their partly as a composite cantilever, bending about the common censorial axis of the walls. It is suited for residential construction where lateral-load resistant cross walls, which separate the apartments, consist of in-plane coupled pairs, or trios, of shear walls between which there are corridor or window openings [1]. Besides using concrete construction, it occasionally been constructed of heavy steel plate, in the style of massive vertical plate or box girders, as part of steel frame structure.

U-values Calculation for walls

U-Value achieved minimum 0.30W/m²K

U-values Calculation for roofs

U-Value achieved minimum 0.20W/m²K

U-values Calculation for floors

U-Value achieved minimum 0.22W/m²K

Whereas the flooring construction is concerned, one option of its production and manufacturing process is a beam and block that is a comprehensive flooring system composed of pressurised concrete beams with standard building blocks laid between them. Together with split course perimeter blocks and professional fixings, they add up, quite simply to a comprehensive flooring package. From the supply of beams only to a complete structural floor, our client need only select those elements that meet their requirements. The top surface of the beam and block floor is suitable for the application of one of the following:

Sand/cement screed applied directly over the floor area

(ii) A timber T & G floating floor may be laid directly onto a continuous D.P.M. over a levelling screed on the beam and block floor

(iii) When additional insulation is required, a layer of insulation material is laid over the floor, which may be completed by either a sand/cement screed or T & G floating floor on D.P.M. A levelling screed is recommended prior to installing the insulation.

The thermal performance of windows has improved greatly through the use of multiple glazing layers, low-conductivity gases (argon in particular) between glazing layers, lowemissivity coatings on one or more glazing surfaces and use of framing materials (such as extruded fibreglass) with very low conductivity. Operable (openable) windows are available with heat flows that have only 25-35% of the heat loss of standard non-coated double-glazed (15 to 20% of singleglazed) ...